A well thought out brand can add significant value to your product and business as a whole by attracting customers and retaining them. The purpose of a brand is to create recognition, desire, and trust, and there are two key factors to doing this well: authenticity and consistency.
From the moment a customer encounters your product or brand, to the point they are ready to buy, there’s a bunch of things you can do to make sure their path to purchasing from you is a smooth one. Commonly known as a customer journey, there are distinct phases a customer travels through to reach you, and every point in that journey is both a point at which you could lose them, and an opportunity to make their journey easier.
Making things inevitably costs money. You spend on materials, tools, and classes, and sometimes the outgoings can seem endless. But when you’re making things to sell, these are the costs of doing business – otherwise known as business expenses! When you keep track of these costs and include them in your tax return, they reduce the amount of tax you pay.
It’s that time of year where we review what’s happened on Felt in the past 12 months and share some behind-the-scenes insights. This year it’s a look at Felt in the post-Covid period, from traffic and sales, to demographics and devices. Based on what we’ve observed, we’ve noted some trends and come up with some tips for you to try out in 2023!
It can be uncomfortable to talk yourself up, but when you promote your Felt shop, you’re also encouraging your customers to shop local, support small businesses, and invest in local creativity. Visitors to Felt often purchase from more than one seller, so promoting your Felt shop not only increases your own sales and profile, but pays it forward to other makers in the community. Everybody wins!
Putting a price on the things we make can be very difficult. We often sell ourselves short and end up losing money (or not making what we should) on our work. We forget that quality and originality can be more valuable to the right customer … Read more »
If you’re considering ever selling your work wholesale (or you already do), your pricing needs to be structured so that your retail price makes money for both you and a retailer. Retail, wholesale, bulk orders, mark-up, consignment… there’s various ways retail can work, and there … Read more »
When it comes to pricing your work, it’s important to consider overhead costs, and factor these into the final price of your products. Overheads are costs that you need to pay in order to run your business, but aren’t tied directly to making a specific … Read more »
Over the years we’ve asked sellers on Felt to share their advice about selling online, running a business, and living a creative life. The collective wisdom on Felt is invaluable, whether you’re already established, or just starting out, so here is the first instalment in a Felt Tips series, straight from our hardworking hivemind!
Felt is based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and run by a dedicated team of four: Lucy, Marcel, Jo, and Blake. For Felt’s birthday, the team stepped out from behind the website to answer some questions about what they do, why they do it, and what it’s like to work on Felt.